Chemical vapour deposition of gas sensitive metal oxides

Abstract

This article presents a review of recent research efforts and developments for the fabrication of metal-oxide gas sensors using chemical vapour deposition (CVD), presenting its potential advantages as a materials synthesis technique for gas sensors along with a discussion of their sensing performance. Thin films typically have poorer gas sensing performance compared to traditional screen printed equivalents, attributed to reduced porosity, but the ability to integrate materials directly with the sensor platform provides important process benefits compared to competing synthetic techniques. We conclude that these advantages are likely to drive increased interest in the use of CVD for gas sensor materials over the next decade, whilst the ability to manipulate deposition conditions to alter microstructure can help mitigate the potentially reduced performance in thin films, hence the current prospects for use of CVD in this field look excellent.